Remarks by the Library Director,
Martin Runkle
It’s great that so many of you are here this afternoon to
celebrate the near completion of Phase I of the Regenstein
Reconfiguration Project.  And I am very glad that the weather
cleared up. It didn’t look very promising this morning.
For those who are not familiar with the Regenstein’s
history, I’d like to share just a little bit of it with you.
The seed for the Regenstein Library was planted way back in 1932,
when a monumental study of the University libraries contained a
recommendation for two central library buildings, one for the
natural sciences, and the other for social sciences and the
humanities. The Crerar Library, which is the central library for
science, medicine and technology, opened in 1984. 52 years after
the original recommendation. The vision of a central library for
social sciences and the humanities was realized after only 38
years, when the Regenstein Library opened in September 1970.
Clearly, the University does not rush head-long into things and
does not act on recommendations without a reasonable period of
reflection and deliberation.
When the University made the decision to build what was to
become the Regenstein Library, they selected the architectural firm
of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, with Walter Netsch as the
principal architect. Mr. Netsch and his wife, Dawn Clark Netsch,
are with us this evening. The late Herman Fussler was the Director
of the Library and the mastermind of the functional design. Mrs.
Florence Miller was instrumental in securing the funding for
architectural studies, and a year later, in 1965, the Joseph and
Helen Regenstein Foundation gave a ten million dollar gift to build
the new library in memory of the late Joseph Regenstein, Sr.
I’m pleased that Betty Hartman and Tom Staszak from the
Foundation are also here this evening. With an additional 3.4
million dollars of federal funds, the way was clear for a truly
grand library, which officially opened 29 years ago this month.
In 1987, I first mentioned to Hanna Gray that we had to begin
planning to accommodate the growing collections. She was not
delighted to hear this. But, not being one to dodge tough issues,
she urged me on.
The projected 25 years of growth space for the collections
turned out to be right on target. We had to address the impending
problem of space for the collections, and also had to make some
physical changes to accommodate a changing environment mainly,
developments in information technology and its effects on patterns
of use. We also had to try to foresee the changes it would bring in
the future. Speaking of information technology, I am reminded of
the adage that if you’re heading in the wrong direction,
technology will get you there faster. On the other hand, it has
also been said that even if you are on the right track,
you’ll get run over if you just sit there.
In spite of uncertainties about the future, we had to move
forward. Regenstein is a very large and complex building. In terms
of size it is among the five largest university library buildings
in North America. And to many people who use it, or have used it,
it is almost a sacred place. We decided that any major changes we
made had to be in the context of a master plan for the whole
building.
In 1992, we began planning in earnest, encouraged by a grant of
2.61 million dollars over five years from the Regenstein Foundation
to partially support overall planning, as well as implementation of
changes on the first floor. We engaged the architectural firm of
Shepley, Bullfinch, Richardson and Abbot to help us create a four
phase master plan, which was completed in August 1996. The
University administration and a host of other people reviewed the
master plan, and, with the endorsement and shepherding of Provost
Geof Stone and Chief Financial Officer Patti Woodworth, Phase I was
approved, at a cost of 14.4 million dollars. The firm of Ross
Barney + Jankowski was selected for the design and development
phase.
Phase I has four components. The original planners of Regenstein
anticipated the need for additional shelving space in the future by
building the foundation and the basement floor strong enough to
hold compact shelving. Because compact shelving holds twice as many
books as regular shelving, it weighs twice as much. As you’ll
see on the tour this evening, we are filling the basement with
compact shelving. When it is completed, Regenstein will have a net
added capacity of 1.2 million volumes, providing growth space for
about 12 years. This option for additional shelving allows us to
keep the collections under one roof, which is a great advantage.
The second component of Phase I was to move the card catalog off
the first floor, open the floor up to reader workspace, and move
the Reference Department from the side to the center of the floor.
As a separate project the Provost had previously provided 2.1
million dollars to convert the old catalog cards to electronic
form. That project is just being completed. The card catalog has
been moved off to the sides and will be moved to another floor in
the spring. The third component of the project was the bringing
together at the main entrance the reader services departments of
circulation, reserve, interlibrary-loan, and the privileges office,
which were previously dispersed. And the fourth component was the
addition of staff offices on the first floor of Special Collections
so that this staff would be more readily available to patrons.
The first floor is now almost completed, but other work,
including the compact shelving, will not be completed until the end
of the autumn quarter. The construction has been accompanied by
lots of dust and debris, noise, frequent false fire alarms, power
outages, and interruptions of heating and cooling, but otherwise it
has gone smoothly. Faculty, students, and library staff have been
extremely patient, and for the most part have maintained their
composure.
In a few minutes, you’ll be invited inside for tours of
the renewed facilities, but first, I’d like to close with a
statement about Regenstein made by one of our faculty members,
James M. Redfield, in a book he published in 1975. "Probably no
environment better adapted to the activity of scholarship has ever
been created. In this library much that had been impossible becomes
possible, and much that had been difficult becomes easy."
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